OSCDumpTruck Posted May 23 Author Share Posted May 23 Thank you very much! Have wanted to make a build thread for a long time now. I really do like the 2.5, it’s a great motor for running around town. Not having new flywheels available is a bummer. Couple other things I just thought of that I plan on doing. 1: I have a full rebuild ready for the throttle body (injector, regulator, seals, etc) 2: Someday swap in my non-disconnect front axle that’s been sitting in my shed. I converted my stock disconnect one to a solid axle shaft in 2021. The first seal lasted a couple months. The second one is still going strong! 3. Harmonic balancer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 53 minutes ago, OSCDumpTruck said: Not having new flywheels available is a bummer. Nahhh we don’t need new ones. A light sanding with 1000grit does the trick for surfacing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSCDumpTruck Posted May 23 Author Share Posted May 23 26 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said: Nahhh we don’t need new ones. A light sanding with 1000grit does the trick for surfacing I was pretty bummed about it a week ago! We’ll keep them on the road one way or another. My plan was to clean up my flywheel and use a clutch for a 94 2.5 XJ with my TBI flywheel. From what I’ve gathered researching, that should work. On the ZJs, they had the external slave in 93. No conversion needed when I did that swap on my 98, just a CPS for a 98 ax15 XJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 If youre wanting to do a external slave conversion, find a 84-86 with a manual set up and youll be able to use that set up on the 87-90 bell houses just fine. I did such on my 88 MJ just fine and man do I love that swap! I thing on this will be finding the ball pivot for the clutch fork and I was able to use later year chrysler ball pivot on my 84 when I swapped to the TBI bell house also with no issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSCDumpTruck Posted May 26 Author Share Posted May 26 On 5/22/2026 at 9:47 PM, eaglescout526 said: If youre wanting to do an external slave conversion, find a 84-86 with a manual set up and youll be able to use that set up on the 87-90 bell houses just fine. I did such on my 88 MJ just fine and man do I love that swap! I thing on this will be finding the ball pivot for the clutch fork and I was able to use later year chrysler ball pivot on my 84 when I swapped to the TBI bell house also with no issues. That’s interesting that the earlier ones were external, however I just received my 90’s bearing retainer in the mail today. NOS mopar one. Should be getting the bellhousing soon. Looking forward to that job when the time comes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSCDumpTruck Posted May 27 Author Share Posted May 27 Soon to go in the engine bay. I’ll use my Renix top half with the bottom half of the later air box. No more warp! We’ll see how the quality it on this replacement coolant bottle, mines still working but has busted tabs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSCDumpTruck Posted May 27 Author Share Posted May 27 Looking a little rough right now, some fresh paint will be night and day difference! The Borla exhaust tip for the mighty 2.5 Also am rocking some KYB shocks that were recommended by Kolak. Great ride with these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSCDumpTruck Posted May 27 Author Share Posted May 27 Here’s my take on the fuel pump ground upgrade/refresh. For better or for worse, I thought this was a solid way to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted May 27 Share Posted May 27 That coolant bottle is probably the only thing crown makes that’s worth while. Ironically they don’t make the cap which I find incredibly odd but they’re a crappy company that doesn’t go the whole 9 yards for restoration parts. Like they have XJW headlamp bezels. That’s it. Nothing else XJW specific. But that bottle will last a long while. I had one. I think I sold it after I got a genuine NOS one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSCDumpTruck Posted May 27 Author Share Posted May 27 43 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said: That coolant bottle is probably the only thing crown makes that’s worth while. Ironically they don’t make the cap which I find incredibly odd but they’re a crappy company that doesn’t go the whole 9 yards for restoration parts. Like they have XJW headlamp bezels. That’s it. Nothing else XJW specific. But that bottle will last a long while. I had one. I think I sold it after I got a genuine NOS one Yes I thought it was cheesy not having a cap. I made the mistake of buying crown fender flares one time, never again. Not sure how they stay in business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSCDumpTruck Posted May 28 Author Share Posted May 28 Bench seat reupholster complete! Need to get some new hardware to bolt it down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSCDumpTruck Posted May 28 Author Share Posted May 28 Adjusted the seat back to its usual location. Close up shot of the fabric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSCDumpTruck Posted May 28 Author Share Posted May 28 Cruising the 1990 XJ a bit today. My wife came up with the term Renix Rx, the Renix doctor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 That seat turned out very well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSCDumpTruck Posted May 29 Author Share Posted May 29 1 hour ago, 89 MJ said: That seat turned out very well Thank you! The lines are similar to the door panels, very happy with the look and no longer smelling the old vinyl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSCDumpTruck Posted May 29 Author Share Posted May 29 Any of you guys know if I can use 91-96 grill and headlight bezels on my Renix header panel? I want to have the grill color matched black and don’t trust using chrome parts to do so. Finding good Renix era black plastics is a challenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 I don’t know for sure, but depending on location, I have a full black set of front end trim (metal trim, turn signal bezels, headlight bezels, grille) that I would trade for chrome. The black might need a repaint though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSCDumpTruck Posted May 29 Author Share Posted May 29 2 minutes ago, 89 MJ said: I don’t know for sure, but depending on location, I have a full black set of front end trim (metal trim, turn signal bezels, headlight bezels, grille) that I would trade for chrome. The black might need a repaint though. That would be cool! I have two XJs with the full chrome in good condition. I’m in East OR. Black Renix grill parts are hard for me to find. Id imagine the newer parts from 91-96 use the same mounting holes, just not metal trim. The simpler grill setup would be nice since I’m used to the 3 piece 97-01 header panel already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 34 minutes ago, OSCDumpTruck said: That would be cool! I have two XJs with the full chrome in good condition. I’m in East OR. Black Renix grill parts are hard for me to find. Well that figures. I’m in AZ and my parts are in WI. I’m surprised the black is hard to find, that seemed to be more common when I was looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSCDumpTruck Posted May 29 Author Share Posted May 29 54 minutes ago, 89 MJ said: Well that figures. I’m in AZ and my parts are in WI. I’m surprised the black is hard to find, that seemed to be more common when I was looking. They are almost always broken. My paint guy isn’t worried about painting the chrome stuff I have. After some digging it sounds like the headlight bezels have different mounting points. Black 90s stuff is easy to find Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSCDumpTruck Posted May 29 Author Share Posted May 29 My gauges fuse connector was partially broken, so I’d lose my gauges intermittently. Finally got around to removing it from the fuse block to replace, and realized it was bridged to another connector. Since it’s a pain in the butt with not much wire to work with, I just flipped it so the bad connector was in the ignition slot now. Easy fix without having to do any cutting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSCDumpTruck Posted May 31 Author Share Posted May 31 Had a change of heart and I will soon have an oem 10 slot grill. I like the 10 because it is 80s only, even though it’s not correct for an 89. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted May 31 Share Posted May 31 I did the same. It looks great, especially in chrome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSCDumpTruck Posted May 31 Author Share Posted May 31 46 minutes ago, 89 MJ said: I did the same. It looks great, especially in chrome It’s exclusive to us AMC era folks! The one I got is spray bombed or something but it’s not cracked or anything. The last 10 slot I saw at the JY had a good crack, saved it for the next guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSCDumpTruck Posted May 31 Author Share Posted May 31 My ZJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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